Giving Compass' Take:

• Futurity reports on an alarming statistic that shows the number of people with dementia more than doubled between 1990 and 2016. By 2050, the number of people around the world living with dementia could be approximately 100 million.

• The hope is that many of the main risk factors for dementia — including unhealthy eating habits and smoking — can be addressed. What can funders do to support more research in this area?

• Here's why it's also necessary to support family caregivers of people with dementia.

The number of people living with dementia globally more than doubled between 1990 and 2016 from 20.2 million to 43.8 million, report researchers.

The researchers also found that 22.3 percent of healthy years lost due to dementia in 2016 were due to modifiable risk factors. Their study looks at the global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias from 1990-2016.

The systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 found dementia was more common at older ages, with the prevalence doubling every five years over age 50. There was also significant potential for prevention.

“In our study, 22.3 percent (11.8-35.1 percent) of the total global disability-adjusted life years lost due to dementia in 2016 could be attributed to the four modifiable risk factors — being overweight, high blood sugar, consuming a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages, and smoking,” the authors say.

Lead author Cassandra Szoeke, a professor at the University of Melbourne and director of the Women’s Healthy Ageing Project, says even more risk factors would be explored in the new data collection.

Read the full article about the rising number of people with dementia by Cheryl Critchley at Futurity.